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Here are some molecular symmetry practice problems. Notice that you
actually need to remember how to derive the shapes of some of these
molecules- an essential skill that I insist on harping about!
a) NBr3
b) SeCl6
c) CCl4
d) H2C=CH2
You should see a C2 axis, and then find one of the two perpendicular C2’s.
This is a flat molecule, so the plane of the page is a mirror, and it is h (not
v!). Thus, this is D2h
e) H2C=CF2
Draw it:
Now we don’t have C2’s, just one C2 and vertical mirror planes: C2v
f) ozone
A C2 axis bisects the O-O bonds and runs through the central oxygen. O3
is flat, so there is (are!) vertical mirror planes: C2v
g) SCN-
h) PCl5
i) Cl3PO.
b) (ignore H atoms)
c)
d) (ignore Ph groups)
Hard to see unless you look down the right direction: there is a C3 axis,
C2’s, but no mirrors, so D3
f)
g) a cube:
Once you realize there are multiple C4 axes, it is a special point group: Oh
h)
If you rotate about the C-C bond, you will add a mirror plane between the
two ends, and the point group symmetry is Cs:
j)
As drawn you might miss the mirror plane. Simply rotate so that the unique
Cl atom is in the plane of projection and you’ll see that this is Cs
If you look down the 4 points with tertiary carbons, you’ll see they are
actually C3 axes. The only point group that has multiple C3’s (and no
C4’s) is Td
e) The Campanile (Berkeley campus) (ignore the clock faces):
This clock tower has a pointy end (the top) and four sides. If we
ignore the clocks we can see each side has a vertical mirror, so
C4v
Here is a nice website with practice problems, where the molecules are
linked to a 3D graphics program so you can rotate things around to look
them more easily:
http://www.scs.uiuc.edu/~chem315/pointgrouppractice.htm
4) Using character tables to determine the symmetry properties of
molecular bonds, vibrational modes, etc., takes practice. There are
some problems in the textbook to practice on; here’s another one.
Follow the procedure from the lecture notes, step by step.
We have two geometries to consider- need to know their point groups. A planar
EH3 is D3h, and a pyramidal EH3 is C3v. Do vibrational analysis in D3h first:
So, vib = 1A1’ + 1E’. Look at the table, see that only E’ is IR-active. Thus, we
conclude that there would be only one E-H stretching IR band.
So, vib = 1A1 + 1E. Look at the C3v table, see that both are IR-active. Thus, we
conclude that there would be two E-H stretching IR bands. Thus, we decide that
this molecule is pyramidal.